religion is banned. there's no rule of law. and perceived infractions are met with harsh punishment, punishment i should add that is often meeted out to three generation office a person's family. a political offender knows that when he goes to prison, his parents and his children will probably go with him. there are probably about 200,000 north koreans today in the gulag, and more than a million, perhaps as high is a two million, have already died there. the reason we know all of this, and much, much more, is thanks to the testimonies of north koreans who have escaped. these are the people i write about in my book. this this knowledge comes to us despite the best efforts of the kim family regime to keep it secret. for more than 50 years, ever since the end of the korean war, north korea has sealed off from the world's eyes. the kim family regime has pursued an isolationist policy and it maintains an iron grip on information. access to which is very strictly controlled. to give just one example, every radio must be registered wi